


Part III

by Ghost0



Series: Webs & Chains [3]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Spawn (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27394498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: Venom and Carnage have a heart to heart that doesn't end so well for one of them. Peter is realizing Al's dark past.
Series: Webs & Chains [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001235





	Part III

The symbiote took on the appearance of jeans and a leather jacket. Eddie had his hands in the pockets to keep his hands a little warmer. He walked down the almost empty sidewalk. Starting to get very late. The two of them debated whether or not to search for Spider-Man or Carnage. Deep in thought and arguing with the other voice, he stepped onto the street not looking for any incoming cars. He practically jumped when he violently turned his head and stopped as a car came to a screeching halt. The drier side door opened and a guy stood up. 

“Watch the road dumbass!” Some large guy in a trench coat. “I don’t know if you have a death wish, but I don’t want to fill out the paperwork that comes with running an idiot on the road!”

“Doubt you can feel the impact. I feel like you have plenty of cushioning.” He smirked at the pissed off man.

Just when he was about to go off, he turned his head towards the interior of the vehicle. He heard something, probably a police radio based on the static that he can pick up. Another voice from within. Grunting, the large guy turned back to Eddie and pointed a finger at him. “You are lucky that I have better things to do then take you in for jay walking!” Getting back in the car, he backed up in reverse and turned. Back in drive, the car drove off. Getting back on the other side of the street, Eddie looked around to make sure he was alone. His clothes then changed, consumed in black. He crawled up the building and got to a place to start swinging. He felt like just going across town, deciding to take on whoever pops up first.

******

Peter used his web to grab a full trash can. Pulling, he swung it towards a couple of the guys shooting at him. “Never thought I would be fighting trash with trash. But when in Rome!” He jumped up to dodge more bullets being fired at him. “You know; we don’t have to go through this whole thing! If you just answer some questions for me I promise I will make sure you only have to deal with cops. What do you guys say?”

“Are you guys fucking blind? Shoot that Youngblood bitch!” The leader of the drug dealers yelled out, pulling out an Uzi. The half dozen guys continued to keep firing at Spider-Man, who kept dodging and using his webs to block the bullets or make their guns useless. A couple of them threw their guns away, pulling out switchblades and tried to get close. But just as Spider-Man was about to take them on, chains came from the shadows and wrapped themselves around their necks. Pulling them away, Spider-Man got distracted when he heard screams. But a bullet flying by his face forced him to deal with the other criminals first. Jumping up onto the wall, he used webs to grab onto a few of them and made sure they were pinned down onto the ground. Jumping back down, he faced down the last man standing. The leader of the thugs, reloading his gun and taking clear aim.

But a dark red clock wrapped itself around the thug’s hand. Twisting sharply, the thug yelled out in pain as his wrist was broken. The gun dropped onto the ground. He ended up being pulled up into the air. Peter jumped and crawled up on the wall. Al was on top of a line of wire connected between two buildings, usually used by one of the tenants to put out clothing to dry. Chains hang down and clinked together as it swayed in the light wind. His cloak wrapped itself around the thug’s entire torso. He started to look afraid when his eyes met the glowing green eyes of the man in red. 

“You’re going to stop fighting and tell me what I want to hear. Got it punk?” He narrowed his harsh eyes.

“What the fuck are you?”

“Never mind that. Tell me if you have seen a man with red hair recently around the alleys. Keeps to himself, might come off as a freak.”

“I don’t fucking know man! I see a bunch of people in my line of work! I don’t pay attention to their hair color!” Peter started to debate within himself if he should end this interrogation. But then the cloak tightened, making the thug close his eyes and groan in intense pain.

“Is that what you call it, work? Do you know what I used to do for work? I killed scum like you.” He pulled the thug closer to him. “Don’t think I won’t do the same to you if I think your holding out.”

“I promise I’m not lying!” He started to sweat a bit. Peter felt like it was about time that he cut in.

“Hey, I believe him. Let him go, I hear police sirens nearby.” He wasn’t lying, he could hear the sound of cars trying to come to their location as quick as possible. Al continued to stare daggers into the guy’s eyes for another moment. Then he threw him through the air, hitting a wall head first and landing on the ground. It seemed like he might have broken or at least sprained something. Al jumped upward and made his way to the rooftop. Peter quickly crawled upward as a couple of police cars came to a stop outside the alley. Officers got out and moved in to gather all the beaten up criminals.

Getting up on the rooftops, he saw that Al had jumped a few buildings over. Catching up to him, he started to approach him from behind. Al stared out across a partially busy street. “Hey, so that got intense. Is that how you usually go about that?”

“I don’t usually do anything.” He responded coldly. “I try to stick to myself. I have enough to concern myself about without dealing with a couple of freaks from another universe.”

“Fair enough. I understand how that can through a wrench in things.” Peter rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not quite sure how long you have been like this. That guy Mikey said you showed up about a couple of months ago, so I am going with that. But as someone who has kind of similar abilities, I feel like you should consider doing this a little more, and maybe lighten up a touch or so. I know I don’t really know your story- “

“That’s right. You don’t know anything about me.” Al turned around and stared down the young man. “You don’t know what I did or how I became this. So don’t tell me what I need to do. If you want my help, if you need to take down these monsters you’re after, get used to how I do things.”

Peter said nothing. Al turned around and jumped down into the alley. Looking down, Al was already starting to try and disappear from his sight. Peter thought about leaving him alone, resuming his search for Carnage and Venom. But something told him that he can’t leave as is. Keeping his distance, he tried to follow Al without him knowing it.

******

Venom pulled himself up and on top of the gargoyle. He surveyed the city from this great height, looking down at all the bright lights. His claws grabbed onto the head of the statue beneath his figure. He tried to think of all the spots he had come across in this different New York. Working out a mental map to try and figure out where his prey could be hiding. But as he thought, he was pushed off the gargoyle and started to fall. Turning around, he snarled at the red creature that lunged at him. Carnage roared back at him as they plummeted downwards. Venom reached out with a web to attach himself to another building and pulled himself towards the building. Carnage came in tow and they both landed and partially crashed on the smaller building.

Venom stood up and looked over the other symbiote. “You dare attack us? Without us, you wouldn’t exist!”

“I owe you nothing!” Carnage crouched and looked up at Venom. He smiled wide, showing off all of his sharp teeth. “You will get in the way of me killing the Spider. So I have to kill you first!” With that, the two of them ran at each other. Claws clashed together, trying to stab and grab onto the other in a rooftop brawl. Venom grabbed Carnage by the throat, but the red creature turned one of his arms into a long spike and penetrated Venom’s stomach. Roaring out loud, Venom let go and put one hand on the wound. The symbiote covering it up, Venom reached out agan with Carnage jumping backwards to bring him closer to the edge. Carnage’s arms turned into pick ax like weapons and began to swing at him. He dodged, shooting out webs to grab onto Carnage’s feet and make him loose balance. But Carnage cut off the connection, circling around Venom and increasing the size of his fists to punch him. He threw hit after hit from all sides. Once he got Venom on his knees, he got up behind him and placed his hands on Venom’s head. He tried to pull in both directions, in an effort to separate symbiote from the person underneath.

Venom formed a spike on the outside of his elbow. Clenching his fist, he shoved it backwards and at an angle so as to make sure he hit him. Carnage cried out, pulling away from Venom. Getting up, he turned around and pushed Carnage back and down on the edge of building. A long drop to the ground, Venom noticed as he tried to gain control over Carnage completely so as to throw him off. But without a warning, a spike formed and sprouted out from Carnage’s chest and through Venom’s. Reaching up to grab onto Venom, he pulled the spike out of Venom’s chest and threw him off the building, down into the dark alley way down below.

Crouching on the edge, Carnage smiled as he saw his enemy defeated, no doubt bleeding within the shadows on the ground. He jumped off the building and made his way across the city. As Venom fell and landed, he could have sworn to have heard something. The giddy laughter of a sadistic man watching the fight play out from a distance, glad to see who was victorious.

******

Peter tried his best to remain hidden along the path he followed. It got easier the closer he got to the destination. But he was surprised to see that destination turn out to be a graveyard. He walked through the open gate, slowly stepping onto the grass. He looked around, trying to see if anyone was here. Walking past headstones, he soon spotted Al. His cloak blew towards the side, as the green eyes of Al stared down at the headstone. Moving closer, Peter stood beneath an old tree with barely any leaves on the branches. “Is this a friend or a-?” Peter stopped when he read the name on the stone. The name read Al Simmons, the date of death being five years ago. He thought that this couldn’t be the same Al. Picking his head back up, Al didn’t turn around to face Peter just yet. “Uh, is this a Night of the Living Dead situation? I’m thinking either that or this is your dad and you just drop the junior part from your name to simplify things. Please tell me that I haven’t been working with a corpse. Not that there is anything wrong with that mind you, but I am admittedly getting goosebumps over here.”

Al said nothing at first. But after a moment of silence, he did provide an answer. “There is a body in the coffin. My body. I wasn’t even allowed to come back in my own rotting flesh.”

“OK, I feel like I wouldn’t be a good investigator if I didn’t at least ask one follow up question. Who wouldn’t allow that?”

“Five years ago, I was betrayed. By one of my comrades, working on the orders of my boss. All in the guise of serving the country’s interest.” Al’s hands clenched hard underneath his cloak. “They thought that calling me a hero and giving me a big funeral would make up for it. Didn’t stop the pain that she felt.”

Peter remained silent. Partly because he just doesn’t know what to say, but also because he felt more coming along. “I made a deal with him…Malebolgia. I will serve in his army and in exchange, I would be sent back to see Wanda again. But the deal was rigged. Five years had gone by. She moved on, married my friend who gave her the one thing I couldn’t. The worst thing about it is that I still love them both.”

“So you made a deal with the devil?” Peter curiously asked. “No offense but that is just naturally risky no matter what your asking for.”

Al turned around to face Peter. “What would you have done? Stayed down there, be tortured for all eternity? Or would you jump at the chance to come back to see who you left behind, not ready to let go?” Peter didn’t say anything to that. But it made him question and wonder. He stared down at the headstone, while Al turned completely around and stared off into the distance. He looked up at the darkened sky. “I did it to see her again. But now, every time I look at her it hurts all over again.” His eyes narrowed as he continued to look up at the sky. “The world is a cruel joke kid. We tell ourselves we know what good and evil look like and how they act. But when we finally see them, they act the same. And we are just pawns in their twisted game.”

Peter thought for a moment. Picking his head back up, he spoke up. “Just because they are playing a game, doesn’t mean you have to do what they expect you to do. Try and fight back, mess up Hell’s plans, whatever they are.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” He turned around, his cloak wrapping around him as it blew across his chest and waved in the air. 

“Well…that is a good question now that I think about it. But I guess you can start with fighting against people that want to spread chaos and destruction. But not like straight up kill them. Or at least, I wouldn’t try and kill them if it was me. You might not see it that way. But the point is, stop bad things from happening before they happen. Don’t just sit by and do nothing but soak in despair. I don’t know how much time you managed to get for yourself, but use it in defiance of this demon devil guy that gave it to you.”

Al said nothing. Horns could be heard in the far distance. The sound of New York’s night life buzzed all around the graveyard the two costumed ones stood in. After a long while of nothing happening, Al began to move away from his headstone and towards the gate. “I’ll start with the neighborhood near my alleys. You can go ahead and start with Chinatown. Try and intersect after a while.” Peter watched as Al slipped back into the shadows of the city.

Peter took one more look at the headstone. Underneath Al’s name were the dates. Below that, it talked briefly about the man Al was. A soldier and a devoted husband. He thought about what he had said earlier, about his friend giving a woman named Wanda what he never could. Underneath his mask, his lips were pressed tight together as he realized what that meant. Al was right, he couldn’t really speak on his choices or life. After all, what would push him to consider making a deal like that? He thought about a day back when he was young with Uncle Ben. He tagged along for a couple of errands, but they decided to take a walk through a park in between spots. He grabbed some bread to let him feed a few of the ducks swimming on top of the pond. Then he thought about MJ, watching her perform a play on stage. The way she was confident in the way she delivered lines, looking out across the crowd. But for a brief moment every so often, their eyes would connect. And in that brief moment, it felt like they were the only two people in that entire place. 

He still looked down at the headstone for a moment longer. But he knew he had to get back to the hunt. Jumping up on top of the gate, he shot a web and pulled himself upward through the air. Al’s headstone stood by itself under the dying tree.

******

Mr. Wu unlocked the door but kept the closed sign up. It would still be a few more hours before they would officially be open. He moved back into the kitchen, making sure that everything had been cleaned up properly from the night before. A few minutes, he heard the door open and looked out to see a couple of his employees. The hostess Macy – a blonde haired Asian college student – came up to him. “Morning Mr. Wu. I heard on the news about your son. If there is anything I can do around here to help out, I am completely able to do so.”

He turned around and gave a soft smile. He took her hand and lightly patted it. “Thank you dear. I already contacted a lawyer to help with his case. I don’t think I will be forced to leave unexpectedly just yet. But I’ll let you all know if something comes up in the near future.” Nodding, Macy went to the cash register and double checked to see that all the money was there. A couple of cooks entered the kitchen and helped start turn things on and make sure everything was clean and good to go. 

Moving back towards the office, Mr. Wu spent some time going over the books. Going online he ordered some supplies for the usual delivery next week. Picking up the morning paper, he looked at the section that had his son’s mug shot. Arrested for robbing a liquor store. He quietly exhaled through his nose. It broke his heart a bit when he went to see him at the station late last night. He seemed to be broken up about it. Or maybe he was simply sorry that he got caught. Shaking his head, he threw the paper to the side. No, he couldn’t think like that. Johnny was a good kid, just fell in with some bad people. 

Macy knocked on the door, getting his attention. “Sorry Mr. Wu, but a woman is here saying that you called her yesterday?”

“Yes, please send her.” He stood up and watched the lawyer enter his office. “Pleasure to see you Mrs. Blake. I am very happy that you were able to come here to discuss things.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I had an assistant order take out from here plenty of times before. Just glad I can finally come down here myself.” She reached out and shook his hand. Sitting down from across him, she opened her briefcase and pulled out some papers. “Now, let’s go over the story that the police reports have established.” The two of them got to work figuring out a defense, while those outside began to move into place.


End file.
